BRISTOL, UK – Sometimes in hockey, things just work against teams. The Bristol Pitbulls ENL 2 team was still recovering from the game on the Isle of Wight when it received news that a win against the Peterborough Islanders earlier in the season had been awarded to the Islanders side after the team had iced an illegal player. The win against the Islanders was one of the bright sparks of the season for the young Pitbulls ENL 2 side and dampened the mood among the players. With the news heavy on the players’ back, the team made a trip to Basingstoke, where it faced off against title challengers Basingstoke Buffalo. Two weeks prior, the Pitbulls had entertained Buffalo at Frogmore street in a game that ended 6-1 to the Basingstoke side. However, the players on the Pitbulls roster were confident coming into the game at Basingstoke as the home fixture had showed that the Pitbulls were capable of offensive play. The Buffalo side were also looking for a win, after it had drawn 3-3 against Cardiff Satans the week before. Buffalo were desperate for the points to draw closer to the league leaders Gosport Devils, who currently sit top of the league. The Pitbulls went into the game without Adam Young who was injured on the Isle of Wight, but did get defence man Christopher Moore back into the roster. Moore had been sidelined since the end of December with a lower body injury. Luke Curtis was also in the line-up, following his horrific facial injury sustained at Chelmsford. Curtis took to the ice wearing a full-face cage. 
Before the game, coach Ian Clark drew inspiration from football, saying that if the Wolves were able to beat Manchester United, the Pitbulls would be able to beat Basingstoke Buffalo and said he wanted the first period to end in a one goal game. The first period showed the crowd at Basingstoke what the 60 minutes would be like. Both teams were going full speed from the opening faceoff, with the Pitbulls taking early offence to the Buffalo zone and got a few early tests on the Buffalo net minder Christopher Edwards. Buffalo also unloaded shots on the Pitbulls keeper, Craig Sutherland. Pitbulls ended up drawing first blood in the game after Jamie Chilcott found Liam Williams’ rebound and buried it past Edwards.However, the Buffalo soon drew level after Mark Pitts drew the game, less than three minutes from the opening goal of the game. The Buffalo added one more goal from Greg Martyn before the end of the first to finish the opening frame of the game 2-1. The first period was pretty easy going for Referee Rene Ross and his lines men. Ross allowed the two teams play hard, but play fair at the same time. The second period saw the Pitbulls ENL 2 side almost fall foul to its second period curse. The week before, on the Island, Pitbulls took their foot off the gas completely and saw the opponents run away with the game. Despite maintaining better pace this time, the Pitbulls found themselves in penalty trouble and quickly saw the 2-1 deficit increase as Buffalo were 
controlling the game. Buffalo had Simon Beere go nearly coast to coast to score on the power play and then followed it up with a goal from Neil Leary to make it 4-1 before the midway point of the game. However, there was still fight left in the dog, as Chirs Moore made his presence felt from the blue line. Moore fired a shot into the Buffalo net after an offensive zone faceoff win. Pitbulls got an additional goal to round off the second period as Paul ‘Sakic’ Davies broke free from the Buffalo defence and deked Edwards out of the play to put the puck in the net to make it 4-3. The third period saw the Pitbulls get themselves further into penalty trouble and were faced with killing more than a few penalties. However, the Pitbulls were kept in the game thanks to the stellar play of Craig Sutherland who faced 45 shots in the game and disciplined penalty kill efforts. The Buffalo had many close scoring chances, but Sutherland and the scrambling defence of the Pitbulls kept the game close. With a minute to go, Clark took the gamble and pulled Sutherland for an extra attacker in an effort to get the tying goal. The Pitbulls brought on offence after offence into the Buffalo zone and within the last ten seconds of the period and bombarded Edwards with seven shots during that time. 
Then with only 2.7 seconds left on the clock, Pitbulls’ Finnish import Janne Virtanen, who came on as an extra skater, got a pass from Jon Griffiths in the slot and put the puck behind Edwards to bring the Pitbulls level. This left very little – if at all time – for either team to look for the go-ahead goal, meaning that the points were split between the two teams. Basingstoke Buffalo will now be looking to increase their point tally against Streatham Bruins, while the Pitbulls ended their six game losing streak and will be looking for a win against Romford Fury this weekend. Contact Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.